Words cannot convey how excited I was to hear that Lisa Kleypas was finally publishing another historical romance. I loved Blue Eyed Devil but the rest of her contemporaries were not my cup of tea. Historical romance, in my opinion, is where Kleypas shines and Cold Hearted Rake is a perfect example of her insane talent.
Devon Ravenel was a rake, a wastrel and a scoundrel and he saw no reason to change those descriptors. Until one day his cousin took a drunken tumble off a horse and made him the next Earl of Trenear. His lucky break turned out to include a ramshackle estate, mounting debts, three unmarried girls and the prickly widow of the previous earl. The attraction between Devon and Kathleen is not immediate but comes gradually and then all at once. Suddenly Devon finds that he’s not as heartless as likes to believe and his newfound conscience won’t let him wash his hands of the enormous responsibility he has inherited. He is unwillingly charmed by his cousins, intrigued by the challenge of turning the failing fortunes of the Ravenels around and captivated by the poised and proper widow.
Everything I love in a Lisa Kleypas HR is here: charming, unconventional relatives, characters I cannot help but fall in love with, sparkling dialogue, humor, scorching love scenes and an Alpha hero with a mushy, melting center. Kleypas heroes are unequaled. In fact, three of my top five all time favorites are hers (Sebastian, Derek and a tie between Hardy and Westcliff) they are invariably Alpha, domineering, unyielding and stubborn but hiding an untapped reserve of tenderness and love that gets unleashed all over the lucky heroine. Devon is a Kleypas hero through and through and so of course he (and his brother who steals every scene he appears in) is my favorite thing about this book. Devon was sexy, domineering, sometimes clueless and so stinking sweet I got choked up a few times. I also loved the introduction to the second book in the series Devon’s cousin Helen and another classic Kleypas hero, the self made commoner Rhys Winterborne. So much in fact that in the middle of the book I actually became more engrossed in that story especially when the halfway through the main story started to irritate me which brings me to my main quibble: Kathleen. At first, she seemed the perfect foil for Devon’s uncaring, cold rake but halfway through she turned into a bit of a hypocrite, a meddler and a shrew. Her concern for Helen and her future with a man like Winterborne was understandable but her continuing opposition to the match for n reason other than her personal prejudice and her idiotic concern for reputation and propriety when she herself was being anything but proper smacked of hypocrisy. Her unauthorized meddling which resulted in a broken engagement went beyond the pale. I also thought the end was a bit rushed and Devon’s epiphany a little rushed. That being said, this is still one of the best books I’ve read this year and I am so excited for the next book in the series Marrying Mr. Winterborne. The epilogue left me breathless and I have no doubt that book will be another stellar effort. Highly recommended.
Mom In Yoga Pants 